Plaintiff Claims: (1) concluding that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to whether Bagley ratified, after reaching the age of majority, a release agreement entered into while he was a minor; (2) concluding that the release agreement was not contrary to public policy; and (3) concluding that the release agreement was neither substantively nor procedurally unconscionable.

Defendant Defenses: Release

Holding: for the defendant. The minor took advantage of the benefits of the contract (release) and did not disaffirm the contract upon reaching the age of majority (18).

This is a rare review of release or contract law because the odds are against it. A contract is voidable by the minor when the minor signs the contract. However, if the contract is in effect when the minor reaches the age of majority, the minor can either disaffirm the contract which puts the parties back in the position before the contract was signed or if he or she fails to do that he or she takes advantages of the benefits of the contract and continues to use it the contract is in force.

The minor signed a season pass release at the defendant ski area. His father signed a minor release and indemnity agreement. Two weeks later and before the plaintiff had started snowboarding he turned 18. Once he started snowboarding, after reaching age 18, he boarded at the defendant’s resort 26 different days and his pass was scanned 119 times.

Going through the terrain park where he seemed to spend most of his time, the plaintiff was injured on a jump which resulted in permanent paralysis.

The minor and his parents sued the resort. The trial court dismissed his complaints after the defendant filed a motion for summary judgment based on the release the minor had signed.

Summary of the case

The appellate court reviewed the facts and pointed several of the facts out repeatedly.

He was also an experienced snowboarder, had signed release agreements at other ski resorts in the past, and had purchased a season pass and signed a release agreement for each of the preceding three years that he spent snowboarding at Mt. Bachelor.

After reaching age 18 the plaintiff used the release 119 times over 26 days during a four month period. Once you affirm a contract, by using it and not disaffirming it, you cannot later disaffirm the contract. A contract is affirmed if the contract is not disaffirmed which requires an act on the part of the plaintiff. Meaning if the minor does not make an affirmative act to disaffirm the release then the release stands.

In Oregon, a former minor may disaffirm a contract within a “reasonable time” after reaching the age of majority, or, conversely, may ratify a contract after reaching the age of majority by manifesting an intent to let the contract stand, “[I]f an infant after reaching the age of majority engages in any conduct that objectively manifests an intent to regard the bargain as binding, the former minor will be held as a matter of law to have ratified the contract.”).

In this case the only disaffirmance occurred two years later when the plaintiff started his lawsuit.

The plaintiff then argued that because he had no knowledge of the power to disaffirm this release he should not be held to his failure to disaffirm. However the court shot this down with the standard statement. “However, we have previously stated that “[i]gnorance of the law is not a basis for not enforcing a contract.“”

The court then reviewed the requirements for a valid release under Oregon law. “[W]hen one party seeks to contract away liability for its own negligence in advance of any harm, the intent to do so must be ‘clearly and unequivocally expressed.”

The public policy argument was also shot down in a very common sense manner.

“[T]here are no public policy considerations that prevent a diving school from limiting liability for its own negligence. The diving school does not provide an essential public service[.]”). A ski resort, like a diving school, primarily offers “recreational activities” (with possible exceptions that do not apply here, e.g., training for search-and-rescue personnel) and does not provide an “essential public service.

The release was also found to not be unconscionable.

[T]he doctrine of unconscionability does not relieve parties from all unfavorable terms that result from the parties’ respective bargaining positions; it relieves them from terms that are unreasonably favorable to the party with greater bargaining power. Oregon courts have been reluctant to disturb agreements between parties on the basis of unconscionability, even when those parties do not come to the bargaining table with equal power. In those rare instances in which our courts have declared contractual provisions unconscionable, there existed serious procedural and substantive unfairness

The court followed up the public policy quote with “…albeit in dictum and in the context of addressing public-policy arguments, suggested that standard-form release agreements in the context of recreational activities are not impermissibly adhesive.”

A recreational activity is not subject to public policy arguments because the signer can:

“…simply walk away without signing the release and participating in the activity, and thus the contract signed under such circumstances is not unconscionable”

“[T]he release from liability is not invalid as a contract of adhesion, because [the] plaintiff voluntarily chose to ski at Mt. Bachelor and the ski resort does not provide essential public services.”

Because it was the plaintiff’s choice to board at the defendants ski area the release did not violate public policy.

When an individual enters a ski shop to buy ski equipment, s/he does not have a need for those goods and services, merely a desire. Should the seller demand exculpation as a condition for the sale of the equipment, the purchaser is free to walk away.

The one misstatement in my opinion which the court also pointed out was language that exempted the release for intentional acts. “THE ONLY CLAIMS NOT RELEASED ARE THOSE BASED UPON INTENTIONAL MISCONDUCT.” The capitalized print made this statement in the release even standout. The court, found this to be curious and probably was thinking the same way I did, why give the plaintiff’s a way out of the release.

The Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the release as a defense to the claims of the plaintiff.

So Now What?

When a guest enters their date of birth in the information form indicating they are under the age of majority, this always creates a problems because minor’s cannot sign releases. However, if the minor can read the release, even the release is voided by the minor, it can still be used to prove assumption of the risk by the minor.

If the minor is turning the age of majority during the term of the release you can have the minor reaffirm the release or sign a new release after his birthday.

The court repeatedly pointed out how many times the plaintiff had used the release, how many releases at this resort and other resorts the plaintiff had signed before and the experience of the plaintiff. Keep track of this information because it will be valuable in any case showing that the release was an accepted contract for the plaintiff.

Never write in your release the ways the plaintiff can sue you. Here the statement in the release that it was not effective for intentional misconduct is the same as telling the plaintiff to write their complaint to couch the injury as an intentional act on the part of the defendant.

On the good side, the ski area had the minor sign the release, even though the release at the time was of no value. A release signed by a minor might have value later as in this case or might be able to prove assumption of the risk.

The Oregon Supreme Court has just accepted this case for review of this decision. So please learn from this article but do not rely upon it yet. (http://rec-law.us/1jaw8g2)

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2 Comments on “Rare issue this case looked at a release signed by a minor that prevented a suit for his injuries after turning age 18”

I also agree with the judges decision on this case and side with the defendant. When somebody participates in a sport such as snowboarding, they are aware that there is risk. One could even argue that the waiver is just overkill in this case as the inherent risk of snowboarding is a solid defense in itself. However when this risk is paired with the waiver that is affirmed every time the client scans his pass, the defense has a case that is tough to disprove. While it is an unfortunate accident, it is just that, an accident. Mount Bachelor provided plenty of opportunities to back out, and the plaintiff decided to take the risk.

This was a good case to learn about as i got to see some legal concepts in action. It was interesting to see a rare case in which age of majority came up on someone who initially was not of the age of majority. I also learned about a couple statutes in Oregon law that the plaintiff attempted to use, but ultimately failed at.

I agree with the judge on this particular case. I believe that Mt. Bachelor did what they could to protect the plaintiff. Even though the waiver was technically signed by a person of the minority age, and it should not have been a valid waiver I still think they expressed enough caution in other areas.
Mt. Bachelor had signs posted at the entrance to the ski lifts warning people about the dangers associated with skiing and snowboarding. They also used their ticket stub as an alternate waiver. They had important liability information printed on the back of their tickets with a sign at the ticket office that stated that there was important liability information on the ticket stubs. They also had a man made slope. While this slope was in question about its design, I personally believe that a man made slope is safer than a nature built slope. You cannot predict what nature will do; therefore you cannot predict the safety of the slope from day to day. So in order to ensure the slope was a safe natural slope, the staff of Mt. Bachelor would have to check the safety of the slope multiple times a day.
This biggest thing that helped the case swing in favor of the defendant was the assumed risk of the activity. Certain recreation activities have assumed risk associated with them. Skiing and snowboarding fall into the assumed risk category. The plaintiff had been snowboarding for many years, multiple times each year with that kind of background in the activity he should know the risks associated with the activity. It would be safe to assume that he knew it is a dangerous activity, but he loved it so he did not think too much of the warnings that were posted for him. While it is still sad that the plaintiff got life altering injury so young, it is a risk associated with the activity. He assumed the risks of the activity when he strapped on his snowboard. The skiing and snowboarding resort, Mt. Bachelor should not be held responsible for his injuries.

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